CRICKET CONTINUED TO DOMINATE India’s over-the-top (OTT) streaming landscape during the first half of 2026, with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 emerging as the country’s most-watched digital title and the Indian Premier League (IPL) reaffirming its status as the biggest domestic sports property, according to the latest Ormax StreamView report.
The report found that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 attracted 246 million viewers, making it the most-watched OTT title in India between January and June 2026. The tournament outperformed every entertainment and sports programme released during the six-month period, underlining cricket’s unmatched popularity among Indian digital audiences.
Outside cricket, India’s Got Lalent Season 2 IPL 2026 ranked second, drawing 228.4 million viewers across streaming platforms. Despite being a domestic franchise competition, the IPL came close to matching the audience of the global ICC tournament, highlighting its enduring appeal and commercial strength in the Indian sports media market.emerged as the most-watched entertainment programme during the period, reaching 38.5 million viewers. The significant gap between the leading cricket properties and the top entertainment title illustrates the dominant role live cricket continues to play in India’s OTT ecosystem.
The findings reinforce the importance of cricket as the primary driver of digital audience growth for streaming platforms. Major cricket tournaments continue to generate massive concurrent viewership, extended watch time and high levels of audience engagement, making them the cornerstone of OTT content strategies.
The report also highlights the commercial value of premium cricket rights. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and the IPL remain key properties for attracting advertisers across sectors such as automobiles, fintech, consumer goods, telecom, e-commerce and financial services. Their ability to deliver large-scale, live audiences makes them among the most valuable advertising platforms in India’s digital media market.
For streaming platforms, cricket continues to be a critical differentiator in an increasingly competitive OTT landscape. Unlike on-demand entertainment content, live cricket creates appointment viewing, drives subscriber acquisition and retention, and generates significant engagement across digital and social media platforms.
